


painting

by maliciousmuke



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Artist Ashton, First Kiss, M/M, Popular Calum, Shy Ashton, ashton has a crush on calum, calum is ashton's muse, sort of, sort of pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 03:23:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5811805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maliciousmuke/pseuds/maliciousmuke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>calum was ashton's muse, he just didn't quite know it yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	painting

**Author's Note:**

> hiya so this isn't smut but i wrote it ages ago and just re edited it loads so here it is
> 
> hope you like it, even though there's no smut

ashton tapped his foot anxiously as he watched the art professor hang his painting. he absolutely did not want the painting hung, but miss frangipane insisted. it wasn’t a bad painting, ashton even thought it may be his best work so far. but it was of a person. it was of a boy who went to his school, and ashton had liked this boy for what seemed like forever. 

the tan skinned kiwi boy was just so pretty, ashton couldn’t help it when he found his brush outlining the boy’s face. ashton knew the boy as calum hood, and they’d never spoken a word to one another. ashton wasn’t sure just how creepy calum would find this. 

ashton let out a huff of breath as he stepped back to admire his work hung on the wall. he couldn’t deny how much he liked the painting, it was beautiful. calum was beautiful. his eyes focused on the bottom right corner of the artwork, where it clearly read _ashton irwin_. 

the thing was, hardly anyone knew who ashton irwin was. he walked around the school silently, keeping his grades up at a solid b plus and making art his priority. he went to art class every morning, painting with miss frangipane and drawing flowers and crowns and anything that just screamed _calum_. 

now, about this painting. there stood calum, dark brown hair swept to the side. a pink flower crown lay delicately atop his head, and he wore a bright grin. his shirt was black, with large white lettering that read _drop dead_. the black skinnies and vans matched his everyday attire, and ashton thought the painting was rather accurate. 

ashton wore a flower crown on his mess of curls, exactly like the one calum wore in the painting. maybe when he sat alone in math class he thought of calum. thought of him and calum, wearing matching flower crowns and giggling as they ran through the park. holding calum’s hand and betting on who could go higher on the swings. calum choosing what ashton would paint next, and watching in awe as ashton made gentle strokes with his brush. maybe calum was all ashton could think about, and maybe he didn’t care. 

ashton sighed, realizing that calum would know about the painting sooner or later. ashton went into his art class and smiled at miss frangipane, sitting down to paint the vans that calum loved oh so much. he rounded the toe, carefully painting on the bunny eared laces. when he was done, he signed his name in sharpie at the bottom and hung it to dry next to all his other art. 

most of ashton’s work was related to calum in one way or another. this included the flower crown that matched his own, some pink lilies with a small _c.h._ on the bottom edge of the vase, and a bird exactly like the one etched into calum’s arm. ashton was fascinated by calum, finding new things that brought the boy to mind everyday. he tried to be inconspicuous, and it had worked until he fucking painted the boy himself. 

ashton left art class with his eyes darting around quickly. a few people smiled softly at him and shot him a thumbs up, obviously having seen his painting. one boy even clapped him on the shoulder and said he was a ‘really good artist’. 

it was nearly the end of the day when ashton saw calum. there was a pretty brunette girl hanging of of his shoulder, despite the fact that he was openly gay. ashton knew she was just calum’s friend, but jealousy burned hot in his throat. 

he turned around quickly, heading back to where his painting hung on the wall. there were a few people admiring it, and some art students seemed to be studying ashton’s delicate brush strokes. one of them turned and smiled at ashton. “this is really good! his eyes look perfect, i can never do eyes correctly,” the girl smiled, and ashton felt pride swelling up in his chest. 

“thank you,” he beamed, “it took me a while to master eyes myself. takes lots of practice.” the girl quietly thanked him and turned back to her friends. 

ashton listened to people’s whispers, and he heard things like ‘beautiful’ and ‘who drew this?’. he knew that most people didn’t know who he was, and that was okay with him. ashton about jumped out of his skin when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. he turned to see calum hood, and the expression on the boy’s face was unreadable. “did you paint this? ashton irwin, right?”

he was like a deer caught in headlights. what was he meant to say? his eyes strayed to the floor and he toyed with his fingers. “y-yeah, but i’m really sorry. i c-can have it taken down i-if you want?” his voice came out a whisper, and he mentally kicked himself for stuttering. 

“no, i like it. do you have other paintings i can see? you’re really good.” a bright smile graced calum’s face, and ashton was in awe. he never thought he’d see the day when he made calum hood smile. 

ashton nodded and led him into the art room, showing him the corner where his work hung. “hey, those are my vans!” calum smiled. “and those are my initials on the vase. that’s my tattoo, and that flower crown matches yours.” 

ashton looked around awkwardly as calum looked at all his paintings. it was weird, having someone other than miss frangipane admire his work. especially when it was the boy who he’d had a crush on for absolute ages. “do you like them?”

calum laughed lightly and turned to grin at ashton. “they’re amazing! but why do you paint things about me?” ashton was absolutely dumbfounded. didn’t calum think it was creepy how ashton painted things related to him? hell, even ashton though it was a little weird.

“you interest me. i like you. you’re like a muse, things about you just come naturally.” ashton blushed as calum stared at him. and, wow, was this really happening? maybe ashton was dreaming, because it sure felt like it.

“i’m actually speechless. why haven’t you ever spoken to me?” calum asked, eyes shining as he admired ashton’s various pieces of art. this was all ashton could have ever asked for, to have calum see his work and actually _like_ it.

ashton shrugged shyly, pulling open a drawer connected to the table. he pulled out a canvas, the beginnings of a painting on it. he’d given up a week ago, as he wasn’t sure how to finish it. on the white canvas was half of a broken heart, painted to appear like fabric. the torn edges were fraying, and the other half had yet to be painted. ashton thought it was too boring, like more needed to be added. maybe calum could help. 

he tugged calum to an art table, thankful that the room was empty. he nudged the canvas towards calum, nodding his head towards it. “i need help with this one. not quite sure how to finish it,” ashton mumbled, watching calum’s eyes scan over the unfinished piece of art. 

calum looked up to ashton, eyes gleaming. ashton knew that look, it meant that he had an idea. a picture in his head, a perfect image of what he had in mind for the piece of art. 

“okay, you should add the other half, fraying it just like that one. then, you add stitches. like the two broken pieces are being stitched together. and a needle at the end of the string.” calum beamed, and ashton was dumbfounded. why hadn’t he thought of that?

“d’you want me to do it?” ashton asked nervously. “like right now?” calum nodded excitedly, ashton standing to go over to his drawers. he pulled out his oil paints and various brushes of different sizes. he sat down in front of calum, tugging the canvas closer to him. 

he used a thin brush with black paint for the edges, matching it with the other half of the heart. he used a thicker brush with thinner bristles to make it appear frayed, before switching back to a thin brush with red paint. he glanced quickly up at calum, who was watching with sparkly eyes. ashton smiled softly as he painted the inside of the heart. he used a clean, thick brush to smear it, making it look made of fabric. 

ashton blew lightly on the painting, drying the red paint. he got his thinnest brush and more black paint, drawing x shaped stitches through each half of the heart. he connected them with each line, then painted a needle with the string looped around it. after adding a few more minor details, he placed the canvas on a stand to dry. “how is it?” he asked shyly, “turn out how you wanted it?”

calum nodded happily. “yeah, it’s so good! where’d you get such good art skills? i can barely draw a circle,” he joked, and ashton smiled softly. “have you ever done, like, a self portrait?”

ashton quickly shook his head, sitting down at the art table with calum next to him. “i don’t really like the way i look, so it would kinda suck to stare at it for so long. plus, art is supposed to look good, and i… don’t.”

calum frowned, the edges of his mouth curling down as his eyebrows furrowed. ashton mentally cooed at the adorable sight. “i think you’re beautiful,” calum said proudly, and ashton felt his cheeks burning as he slouched down shyly in his chair. 

“you don’t have to say that, i know i’m not-” calum raised his hand in the air, effectively cutting ashton off. he shook his head lightly, smiling softly at ashton. 

“i wouldn’t tell you that out of pity or something. let me say it more clearly this time: _you are beautiful_. it would be absolutely pointless to try and convince me otherwise,” he grinned wildly, reaching out a hand to run through ashton’s hair. 

ashton blushed fiercely, staring down into his lap as he fiddled with his fingers. calum used his thumb to carefully tilt ashton’s head up, leaning in slowly. he was going to kiss ashton. _calum hood_ was about to kiss _ashton irwin_. was ashton dreaming? there was clearly enough time for him to pull back, but he _really_ didn’t want to. 

the thing was, ashton had painted calum. and the boy’s lips had taken the most work. it had taken many quick glances in the hallway and lots of studying calum’s school photo to make them perfect. they were plump and his cupid’s bow curled absolutely beautifully, and ashton had grown to love them. 

and then they were pressed against ashton’s and all he felt was pure bliss. but, ashton had never been kissed before, despite his being in the eleventh grade, so it was a bit messy. he carefully brought a hand to rest on calum’s hip, opening his mouth and letting calum lick gently into it. he let the tan boy take the lead, skillfully toying with ashton’s bottom lip and biting softly at the sensitive skin. 

a loud whistle sounded from the door of the art room, and the boys looked up to see miss frangipane smirking at them. “nice one, ashton. i told you he’d like the painting.”

calum looked back to ashton, smiling fondly and kissing his nose softly. “i like more than just the painting.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can leave feedback via the comments or my [tumblr!](http://www.maliciousmikey.tumblr.com/)
> 
> thanks for reading! please leave requests in the comments! (they don't have to be smutty btw)


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